from the drugs-and-music dept

It's no secret that there was a close connection between major record labels and drugs in the past -- but people keep insisting that's all ancient history these days. So it's interesting to find out, via a federal prosecution of a cocaine ring, the news that the effort apparently hid the shipping of cash and cocaine around the country by using concert "road cases" and shipping them to and from Interscope Records' offices. Interscope, of course, is a Universal Music sub-label, which is home to the likes of Eminem and Lady Gaga.

Department of Justice prosecutors this week provided defense lawyers with shipping records detailing “pickups and deliveries” made at Interscope’s Los Angeles office by a cargo firm that was used to transport the music cases, which were alternately stuffed with kilos of cocaine and upwards of $1 million in cash.

Perhaps, rather than worrying so much about the impact of "piracy," the folks at Universal Music should be paying attention to the drug dealing happening via its own offices. Just saying.

Ahh yes, another of Mike Masnick's pointless hit pieces against the music industry simply because it's the music industry. Never mind that there are crooked individuals working at companies all over the world or that this could happen anywhere. It's the music industry which Mike hates so obviously it's a much bigger problem because it happened there this one time! Seriously Mike, every time you post one of these tantrums like a spoiled brat screaming for attention, you hurt your credibility for the actual serious causes people SHOULD pay attention to.

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Oh c'mon everybody knows by now that the pirates will kick the asses of the record industry along with the music industry because they keep sniffing, injecting and breathing fun stuff while the pirates keep reading technical material to build and program new ways to rip the industry.

Now who do you think will win this, the guys doing drugs or the guys doing the books?

Please prove that you are not a total idiot and show us your marvelous plan to stop piracy.

This explains so much...

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Get coverage of this happening elsewhere and it will be covered, with the caveat of it should involve a tech company.

And what praytell is your pocket cause that is so vitally important that you've overlooked mentioning?

(hint its on page 3 of the talking points memo)

Given the music industries demands that service providers do more to support their business model, the other side of that coin is as they had their system used to run a drug operation shouldn't they be facing charges themselves?

So other than just trying to troll, and doing a piss poor job of it... did you have a real point or have you gotten the Mike bashing out of your system for the time being?

Re: This explains so much...

Just One other case please

Mr. AC, please point out another case, Just One, in which the Department of Justice has shipping records detailing “pickups and deliveries” made by any other company, ANY company, that "were alternately stuffed with kilos of cocaine and upwards of $1 million in cash."

Re: Just One other case please

Good point. We hear unsubstantiated stories of how terrorists and mafia are profiting from piracy. Now we have a substantiated instance of the property of a major record label being used to smuggle a whole lot of drugs and cash.

We know from ICE that if your property is used to facilitate crime (regardless of whether you did it yourself), the government can seize it. So I'm waiting to hear of when the feds will be taking over this postal address.

So because Universal Music's infrastructure was used by other people to commit illicit activities, doesn't that mean the Feds should go straight over and shut down all of Universal Music? Actually, I wouldn't mind that so much...

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Learn from each other

Each group in this story can learn something from the other.
The music labels from the drug dealers: how to sell something people want to buy instead of trying to force them to buy what they don't want.
The drug dealers from the music labels: how to properly buy politicians, so your competitors get thrown in jail instead of you.